On October 16, 2009, David Safavian, former GSA Chief of Staff, was sentenced in U.S District Court in Washington, DC to 12 months of incarceration and 24 months of supervised probation.
This case was initiated based upon information sent to the GSA OIG Hotline. The information alleged that David Safavian, then GSA Chief of Staff, attended a 2002 golf trip to Scotland sponsored by Washington D.C. lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Also along on the golf trip was then-U.S. Congressman Robert “Bob” Ney (Ohio 18th District.) To date, the ongoing investigation into the lobbying activities of Abramoff and his associates has resulted in 13 guilty pleas by various lobbyists and public officials, including Ney and a former Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Safavian was originally convicted on June 20, 2006, on three counts of Title 18, U.S. Criminal Code, Section 1001, False Statements, and one count of U.S. Criminal Code, Section 1505, Obstruction. Safavian was sentenced to 18 months incarceration, but remained free upon appeal.
On June 17, 2008, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversed and vacated his convictions. However, on October 8, 2008, a Federal grand jury for the District of Columbia returned a superseding Indictment of Safavian.
Safavian was subsequently found guilty on December 19, 2008, on three counts of U.S. Criminal Code, Section 1001, False Statements, and one count of Title 18, U.S. Criminal Code, Section 1505, Obstruction (of the GSA OIG investigation.) Safavian was convicted by a jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
